Kalmar and Navis make VICT in Melbourne fully automated

Kalmar and Navis, both companies are part of the Finnish Cargotec Corp., have announced today the delivery of the first OneTerminal automation solution to ICTSI’s Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) at the Port of Melbourne, Australia.

Kalmar OneTerminal provides an integrated automation solution, delivered by one team, bringing together Kalmar and Navis software systems, equipment and services for a seamless deployment.

Kalmar signed the contract with VICT in August 2014 and since then both Kalmar and Navis teams worked hard, which allowed to complete the project on budget and ahead of schedule. The software solution combining Kalmar TLS and Navis N4 Terminal System was pre-integrated and tested before the delivery, speeding up the deployment, according to Tero Kokko, Senior VP, Kalmar Automation and Projects.

The deployment has made VICT the world’s first fully automated international container handling facility.

As we wrote earlier, VICT is Melbourne’s newest container terminal launched by ICTSI last December. It is located north of Port Phillip Bay at the mouth of the Yarra River in the Port of Melbourne’s Webb Dock East. Currently ICTSI is developing Phase 2 of the facility which, upon completion by the end of 2017, will see an annual capacity of 1 mln TEU. At full development, the 35.4 hectares terminal will have 6 Post-Panamax STS cranes at 2 berths of 660m length and a capacity of 1.4 mln TEU.

Christian Gonzalez, VICT Chairman and Senior VP of ICTSI’s Asia Pacific Region commented: “VICT was designed, and is now equipped, to be fully automated, making it the most advanced container terminal in the world. We chose Kalmar’s cutting-edge technology and equipment and Navis’ software and it is enabling us to reach the highest standards of port safety.”

Praising the speedy deployment, he said: “This has never been achieved in the port industry for a fully automated terminal. It is especially noteworthy when considering the unprecedented complexity of the civil works requirements, along with the level of pioneering automation governing the design.”

Mark Welles, VP and GM of Asia Pacific at Navis, commented: “The N4 Terminal System will allow VICT to optimise operations, speed turnaround times and deliver a new level of unprecedented efficiency in key areas of the terminal.”